Seamounts

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, created by former President Barack Obama, was the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

Over time, that calcium carbonate forms tall, rocky seamounts around the methane vents. Victoria Orphan suspected that these rocky areas served as a shelter for sea life. So she found a submersible — a small vehicle like a submarine — and went down 800 meters to the sea floor to prove it.